Ysabel

by Guy Gavriel Kay

Publisher:

Roc

Copyright:

February 2007

ISBN:

0-451-46129-2

Format:

Hardcover

Pages:

421

This book is a departure for Kay, who after a high fantasy trilogy has
been exclusively writing historical novels set in renamed and slightly
rejiggered pasts and touched by the fantastic. The past still figures
heavily in Ysabel, in the form of a recurrent love triangle built
on echos of conflicts between Romans and Celts, but its setting is
entirely modern-day. Ysabel is also a young-adult story with a
fifteen-year-old protagonist and a far less complex plot than Kay's
typical novel.

Ned is the son of a world-famous photographer, accompanying his father and
his staff (including the hyper-efficient Melanie) on an extended photo
shoot in Provence, France. His mother is in the Sudan, a volunteer with
Doctors Without Borders. That's the primary worry in Ned's life until he
meets a local girl in a cathedral, has a run-in with a dangerous-seeming
man who comes from somewhere he shouldn't be, and then sees a sculpture
about which he knows far more than he should. Predictably, Ned's
mysterious powers grow stronger, the past ends up posing a direct threat
to his family, and he and Kate have to find a way to resolve mysteries
that are thousands of years old.

Some of the narration is told with Kay's typical gravitas and sense of
mythic weight. When reading a Kay novel, one is rarely in doubt about the
importance of events. Ned, however, is quite unlike a typical Kay
protagonist: he approaches the world through banter, makes light of things
that bother him, and spends much of the book teasing and being teased.
This is clearly intended to show affection (and doesn't fail), but it also
seems intended to lighten the mood and make the book more approachable for
younger readers. In that role, it clashes oddly with Kay's typical
narrative style. Occasionally, I wanted to strangle Ned or yell at the
other characters to take things seriously, and the dramatic narration (a
touchy technique in the best of circumstances) can feel overwrought in
contrast. Kay's narrative style does work on its own terms and succeeds
brilliantly in other books (see The Last
Light of the Sun, for example), but it's difficult to recognize that
from this example.

The banter is occasionally enjoyable on its own terms, although Kay's ear
isn't the best and there's not quite enough sarcasm. Unfortunately, the
change in tone doesn't stop with banter; Ned's father's party also has a
penchant for practical jokes and stupid competitions. I'm sure this was
funny to someone, but I'm not that someone. I personally detest practical
jokes, so fictional treatments of them start with two strikes, and Ned's
reactions are full of the standard hypocrisy. He's a bit prickly and
hates being embarassed, so of course he does to other people what he
claims to dislike when it's done to him. I know there's a social dynamic
to this that works for others, but I still don't enjoy reading about it.

All this unfortunately leaves Ysabel feeling disappointingly
shallow. Usually Kay's strength is the depth of emotion he portrays in
his characters, and while there are moments here, it's a faint shadow of
his other work. A faint shadow of someone as good as Kay is still an
enjoyable read, and despite a straightforward plot, Kay had me hooked by
the middle of the book and feeling for Ned by the end. It helps that he
introduces some fantastic supporting characters: Melanie is a delight,
Ned's dynamic with his father is refreshingly healthy, and while Kate is a
bit of a non-entity, Kay more than makes up for her with Ned's mother and
aunt. The primary mythical characters of the piece run a bit too far
towards archetypes, but I suppose that's justified by the story, and they
do show enough individual character to be interesting. The plot and
ending are quite predictable, perhaps falling victim to the idea that
young adult stories should be simple, but there's enough real emotion in
the climax (and delicate handling of the denouement) to leave me
satisfied.

In Kay's oeuvre, Ysabel is destined to be a minor work. I
hope he goes back to writing adult fiction after this; contemporary young
adult is an interesting variation, but I don't think he has the feel for
it and this take lacks the depth that makes Kay's fantasy so compelling.
But even in a minor work, Kay is one of the best epic fantasy writers
currently publishing. Ysabel is uneven and falls short of great,
but it's still worth the read. After you've read the rest of Kay's works.